FOWL’s first annual meeting and celebration

Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve. Mirror file photo.

submitted by Geoffrey Cripe, Friends of Watkins Lake State Park

The Friends of Watkins Lake State Park (FoWL) invites you to its first Annual Meeting and Celebration Saturday, June 27 from 10am to 11:30am at Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve (WLSPCP), located at 14801 Arnold Road between Brooklyn and Manchester. FoWL invites the community to celebrate a year in the books with a short business meeting and presentation of FoWL’s first fiscal year milestones and accomplishments followed by social hour with refreshments and an optional hike through the seasonally open waterfowl refuge and restored near-shore forest.

FoWL formed in the summer of 2025 to support the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in its implementation of the WLSPCP management plan.  The organizations mission is to provide stewardship, education and advocacy to foster appreciation for WLSPCP and help sustain its natural and historical attributes.  Since its inception, FoWL has hosted numerous family oriented educational events, volunteer stewardship workdays and community events while also conducting ecological research and providing multiple forums for user input and feedback.

Laura Watkins Koelewijn, FoWL Vice-President added,  “We hope you will join us Saturday at WLSPCP, one of the most regionally significant amenities for wildlife and public recreation. Come meet and celebrate with others who share an appreciation for this incredible place and want to see it thrive.”

Watkins Lake State Park and County Preserve was acquired by the State of Michigan and Washtenaw County Parks in 2016, and became Michigan’s 103^rd State Park.  Among many unique attributes, the park includes areas of rare and high-quality wetland habitat, a rail-to-trail that is in process of connection to the village of Manchester, and a waterfowl refuge that is used by thousands of migratory waterfowl in the spring and fall, as well as for breeding during the summer months. Eagles, trumpeter swans and a number of grassland sparrows nest on-site. The park also supports a diversity of unique plants, insects, song birds and other wildlife.

Information about FoWL can be found on its website, protectingwatkinslake.org.  Connect, learn more and get involved at: Facebook.com/WatkinsLakeSPCP or via email at friends@watkinslake.online. 

by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and a founder of the Manchester Mirror.